World What Day?

Earth, AIDS, Water, Prayer, Health & Safety, Jump, Environment, Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development, Book, Population, Food, Health, Carfree, Heart, TB, Habitat, Asthma, Friendship, Hug, Usability, Hello, COPD, Tibet, Run, Refugee, Maritime, Teacher, Youth, Sousveillance [?], Oceans, Poetry, Psoriasis, Culture ... ... ...

http://www.earthcalendar.net

Run a search on the internet and you stumble across hundreds of “World/ International XYZ Day”s; some whimsical (Usability?), some serious (AIDS, Water, Hug- yes I think hugs are vital) and some pretty silly (Hello?!). It’s all well and good to imagine the whole 6 billion+ world citizens uniting to celebrate this or that day; world leaders and decision makers pledging co-operation and instant effective action- whether to promote more “Hellos” or better development incentives.

The objectives of such days are to:
-Raise public awareness about the issue at hand
-Engage various actors in a dialogue
-Promote co-operation, streamline approaches and formulate next steps
-Raise funds
-Encourage policy change and effective implementation
(sorry about “NGO speak”)

On a more cynical note it also serves as a great PR tool- donors and governments to play the “See, we are honouring this day, look at how committed we are to positive change: we’ve allocated $£X million to attaining the MDGs”. Deep inside is: “We have just spent $£ million on celebrating this day in Rio/ Mexico/ Paris/ NY/ Rome at some swanky conference centre; jetting all over the world to indulge in the canapés and sights”

Anyway, back to a more constructive way of writing:
Last week we had the 13th World Water Day; media coverage was good, with some NGO staff elaborating on the “Water and Culture” link and the government reiterating that they are committed to fulfilling their MDGs for the water and related (health) sectors [ok- sounds good but Ethiopia has great policies on paper, yet they die lonely, over-worded deaths in some filing cabinet due to lack of political goodwill, rampant corruption etc.].

The problem is that to me such days are quite remote from the realities on the ground- to the majority of people such days, as conveyed by the media, seem to be for big international meetings, pledges, MoUs and lots of flashlights. The actual work and effective measures to bring and evaluate changes for the masses are invisible- what lies beneath these proclamations, speeches and presentations of research/ action/ policy papers?

International meetings seem to be full of pompous jargon, limp clichés, frayed promises and overambitious plans- immediate steps and actions are glossed over in discussions of logframes, timelines and budgets. What is the point then? World XYZ days are necessary to raise awareness and thus funds; at the same time organisers and participants have to make sure that they are talking realistic measures and actions so that when they meet next year, they can look back and evaluate the impact of their promises and actions.

What about "Pledge and Promise Honour" Day- every day for all?

5

A total of 5 blasts were reported for yesterday; the latest one being at 5pm at Sar Bet- the "bomb" was under the brick fence of a residential building...?

Intimidation of the normal population has been going on for years- the popular means being "bombs". The impact wasn't too high, there were the usual taxis and passengers crowding the pavements. Yet situations like this bring out tensions and tempers run high- people are more aggressive and confrontational- "stoopid attacks" loose their funny and quirky side and slide easily into harassment and violence.

Someone's living out a pyromaniac's childhood dream

Some news

And bad news at that: Today at about 9:30am a bomb exploded in a minibus-taxi near Beqlobet (Debre Zeyt Road) on the Gotera- Stadium route. It is unclear how many have died but the figures range from 2 to all occupants of the taxi (13 in total?). Another bomb went off near Kera...
The bomb blasts from 3 weeks ago were quite mild and mainly dangerous to flower pots and rubbish bins, but this is different- on the way to work in the rush hour, in a confined space made of metal and other hard, unyielding materials...

If the attacks are carried out by anti-government/ EPRDF bodies (as they'll claim for sure) then why should they harm and antagonise people who so clearly do not want this government either?
Why do a job badly when the investment of time, life and effort can have better results by tackling government institutions, international bodies and Al Amoudin's businesses and buildings?
Such heavy handed, shoddy bodged jobs (flower pots, rubbish bins and commuters?) point to one and only one organisation, as they are the only ones who hate Ethiopia's people- and I don't mean Shabea or OLF.
Is it still the government trying to legitimise its stronghold to the west by pretending it was an attack by Al Qaida afficionados? Surely again these would have higher ambitions- see 9/11, how does a minibus taxi in the poorest nation on earth, in the horn of Africa compare? I haven't heard of an official threat against Ethiopian people from those quarters...

Another one bites...

the Ethiopian dust?

So about a month after Anthony Mitchell was expelled, the blogger AddisFerenji was "encouraged" to leave Ethiopia. Not sure what to make of all this as the blog was of ambiguous value; if it was a genuine blog then I salute Mme Addis Ferenji- although there was just so much junk on it. The junk was mainly from the comments section, but it made me wonder about the quality of the readership. If we're blogging for change then the right people have to read our blogs and not be put of by venomous ethnic rethoric a la playground. So what implications does this carry? Gotta wait and see I guess, but as the spy-movie bug is catching me, I'm contemplating an investment in a trench coat, huge mosquito-eye size shades and a giant stetson, or would I be more conspicuous like that?

Anyhow, Mme AddisFerenji, if you were as true as gold then I wish you all the best and keep up the fight from out there.

Ranting Chilli

I got a response which asked me to lighten up when I posted a cynical comment to Meskel Square: The response was funny and certainly wasn't taken as an attack, yet I feel the need to justify my cynicism and anger.

For those here there's little need to describe what's going on; perhaps those in the diaspora who want more coffee and sun need a bit of enlightening:

Pre election:

The atmosphere here in Addis was absolutely buzzing with a vivacious sense of freedom and control over your destiny. The debates on TV were about the best TV I've ever seen anywhere (and trust me, I've had an insight into various countries' TV cultures). The streets were alive with heated yet good natured discussion and banter about politics- a new era was hovering in the distance. The air was sparkling with the brilliance of the sun reflecting the bright hope in people's hearts; minds were kindled to new ideas and notions about self-determination and freedom. Yes, there was the occasional sceptic and disbeliever, and apart from those who actively wanted the EPRDF to win, it was easy to somehow find common ground with these people by saying that they should vote anyway, who knows...? We all had a bit of a feeling that most of the pre-election freedom was this regime's circus for the west, but we thought that this was still opening doors and even just little cracks that will be difficult to close by any party.
Then came the rallies, the gaping difference between the EPRDF staged rally and the spaontaneous joy at the CUD rally- I live near the ring road and the contrast was baffling: The EPRDF rally was pretty quiet, we saw lots of busses crammed with Bee-t-shirt wearing, V-sign waving youths, hardly any car horns and certainly no chanting of "Yaaahoooo" nor dancing.
Oh but then when Sunday came! It was exhilirating! So spontaneous and lively, men on decorated horses from the outlying farmsteads; bands of young men waving huge Ethiopian flags running, dancing and chanting about freedom and victory. We all have seen the picture of the old lady all in white with a huge grin on her face waving the V sign, which to me, captured the feeling and mindset.

Post election:

The first few days were filled with the usual back and forth about vote counts, irregularities etc. However alarmingly quick the tone on TV changed, footage of the CUD rally was reduced to showing "Adegegna Bozene"- teenage boys from the streets smoking and showing the V-sign (oooh, these hooligans!), news of intimidation and murder in the countryside trickled in. All this gathered momentum in June when students, drunk with the previous months' freedom, protested- silly of them to think they could change things-we all know the outcome of that.
The response of the donor nations and that of the government to the donors brought a whiff of how things really are. We had thought too big, too far; us little Ethiopians had dared think we could change our own destinies, so we had to be put back into our place-under the table to pick up the scraps of the feast of perverted ego and pompous vanity, murderous greed and unscrupelous scheming that this government and the donors were engaging in.

Since then there's been a steady decline in the spirit; no need to describe the polical parties' reactions and responses, but a sense of quiet despair was setting in. Maybe that grinning old lady has had to bury a child or grandchild and more...
The rains came and went under a whole load of rethoric flying back and forth, the opposition (technically now the ruling parties) toed the line of the framework set up, only to be villified, ridiculed and arrested. The next round of protests was put down just as violently, however the donors had decided to perhaps, maybe, just as alittle reminder slap the EPRDF's wrist. Only to feed them giant cakes through their chic diplomats here.

There's a hush on the streets now, people just want to get home safely to their children who hopefully haven't become some village-idiot's bullet fodder. See http://washingtontimes.com/world/20060321-120726-9044r.htm as quoted in Weblog Ethiopia's "Climate of fear"

So why should I be angry and cynical?
Why, when farmers' homes are being burnt down for allegedly being CUD/UEDF supporters;
-when thousands languish in Dedessa and other camps
-when teenage girls are forced by soldiers to kneel in the dirt and get shot anyway
-when lies are told on the media over and over again, confusing and crushing any thought of dissent with their underlying threats of imprisonment and death
-when it looks like we are just the toys in a grander scheme that we, as Africans of course cannot even begin to fathom, it's all for our own good after all.
-when foreigners here feign ignorance- all is well: "Ahm gonna raise mahself sum cheackens, uh huh... and thean bah sahm booze in Bowlay roawd".
True, they may prefer to keep out of politics as they do not really know the convoluted details of what makes us tick, yet they do not need to treat us like silly clamouring housewives at a sale (tupperware at that!) and turn around to imply we should" just grow up, get on with it, worse things happen at sea" etc.

To me, they are fair-weather friends: They love the sun, the cheap prices, food, coffee etc. in Ethiopia, but a lot hardly ever venture out from their upper class expat lives to engage and connect with Ethiopia and Ethiopians on our own terms- so when the shit hits the fan they pretend all's still jolly good. There are a few foreigners who do daily Ethiopian routine stuff as in take minibus taxis etc, but when you go to some event such as the NGO bazaar every month you realise just how many expats there are - wonder where they hide at other times...?
And my list of
-when
-when
-when...
continues, so many more points to add to the growing list of why Ethiopia makes me sad and angry and it doesn't seem to get any better.

Usually I try to be moderate on my blog, there's enough verbal buffonry going on without any action taken so I try to redirect my energies to the more positve aspects of Ethiopia. I cannot vent aggressive thoughts just like that without suggesting concrete steps to bring positve change. It's despairing to see the poverty, despair and next round of the same to come for years while this government lives off the fat of this land; keeping Ethiopia poor and begging keeps a lot of people in money and good CVs- and I'm sitting here with tied hands.

So, yeah tell me why I'm angry- I'm perplexed... perhaps it's all just in my confused little mind.

Let's add a 31st day to every Ethiopian month...

...and call it St. Ana Day

Ethiopians honor Ana Gomez as rights champion KSDON Press Release March 21, 2006
-------ADDIS ABABA -

Ethiopians on Tuesday honored Ms. Ana Gomez, chief of the European Union Election Observer Mission to Ethiopia, for standing out as a courageous democratic rights champion who stood by the side of the Ethiopian people now being held hostage by the tyrannical regime of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi. In a statement released on Tuesday, the Ethiopians said: "Humanity has a sacred responsibility to bring an end to this scourge of the 21st century and we appreciate the fact that you have embarked upon this path by producing a balanced and fair assessment of the whole election process in Ethiopia." Following is the full text.The honorable Ana Maria Gomes European Parliamentarian and Chief Observer Parliamento Europeu Rue Wiertz ASP15G 146 BE-1047, Bruxelas Your Honorable, The Kinijit (Coalition for Unity and Democracy Party, CUDP) support and development organization in Norway (KSDON) would like to express its earnest and heart-felt appreciation and gratitude to you and members of your observation mission for your balanced and judicious final report. It is our firm conviction that your firm and unwavering position and stand in defending democratic and fundamental human rights regardless of where they are denied or violated has earned you a high reputation and respect among Ethiopians. Moreover, it is notable that a person of your integrity and principle plays a pivotal role in advancing democracy and development in our part of the world where tyrants of one hue or another have been entrenching their usurped power by enlisting the support and backing of foreign powers. Ethiopians value your contribution highly and many call you now by the name Hanna Gobeze (Gobeze means my brave). This name is an expression of love and respect for you, Ana Gomes. The current misguided and unscrupulous foreign policy of the British and US governments is nothing but a policy geared towards a futile global anti-terror alliance embracing even brutal dictators like Meles Zenawi who has been terrorizing his own helpless and peaceful subjects for demanding their basic human rights. Suffice it to say that these western governments have opted for a non-constructive and non-productive foreign policy towards Ethiopia. We believe that unless reviewed and righted, this policy will be detrimental to the long term interests of our respective countries and fraternal peoples. The Ethiopian people are outraged over the damage this coalition has caused to their democratic aspirations. Meles Zenawi is an ethnic warlord who retains power through the barrel of the gun and perpetuates poverty in order to use poor Ethiopia as a begging bag to enrich himself and his thugs. Your constructive and fair report has drawn a furious reaction from the angry and frustrated tyrant, Meles Zenawi. His apparent attempts to discredit and tarnish you have not paid off other than exposing more his true face. In one of the series of letters Meles Zenawi had released in response to your preliminary report, he has made implicit admission of the true color of his regime, that is the surrogacy and viceroyalty inherent in his regime. He has built his political career on deceit, denial, lies and murders and runs a notoriously corrupt, incompetent and parasitic administration. The character assassinations, slanders, smear campaigns and rude terminologies employed in regard to your preliminary report are not Ethiopian at all. Ethiopians treat their guests with respect and kindness and their benevolence and kindness are even offered to those who came to conquer and rule over them. Meles Zenawi and his thugs are blood and power thirsty persons who are devoid of rationality and imbued with cheating, deceit, and denial. They are rogue elements in our otherwise civilized and decent Ethiopian society. We hope that your fruitful working stay in Ethiopia has enabled you to realize all these and other positive aspects of our societies that have been living in solidarity and harmony for centuries. Meles Zenawi and his thugs have been implementing a divisive, hostile and potentially explosive ethnic policy as part of their divide and rule strategy. Ethiopians are cognizant of the malicious intentions of Meles Zenawi and have rejected him in an election he organized and staged for the sake of the political consumption of his western donors. The regime`s frequent reference to the Rwandan Interhamwe is a clear testimony as to Meles Zenawi`s diabolic intentions in the event of serious threats to his power. The election was not meant for power transfer but Ethiopians seized the moment to defy and reject him. Meles Zenawi got outraged by this and unleashed his special forces trained and equipped by the anti-terror coalition against the poor Ethiopians whose sole crime was to vote for the politicians of their choice and trust. This was in brief an illustrative example of the abysmal failure of an expensive but unwise western political investment in Africa in general and in Ethiopia in particular. This misguided western venture in our beloved country is costly to the western taxpayers and us. It [is] costing us Ethiopians too much both materially and interms of unprecedented repression and human sufferings we are enduring under the ruthless regime of Meles Zenawi. Humanity has a sacred responsibility to bring an end to this scourge of the 21st century and we appreciate the fact that you have embarked upon this path by producing a balanced and fair assessment of the whole election process in Ethiopia. With regards, The Kinijit Support and Development Organization in Norway (KSDON)

No News=Good News?

Today's the big day....
In this case no news=good news as in no-one has been killed by some thug in blue (at least in Addis, news from Desse different); but also No News= bad news as in the sad story of Ethiopia continues unchanged
What to do oh what to do...

So...

It's a bit confusing with this civil disobediance thing: According to the Tegbar Pamphlet the days should be Megabit 11-13 (ie since yesterday), yet the dates given for the Gregorian Calendar say March 22nd-25th, so I'm not sure what will be happening. Noticable changes are subtle:

1. Fewer mini-bus taxis around and a lot more waiting around for the taxi to work/ home- could the taxis have started a strike? However it could just be that the iminent rises in the petrol price have made the taxis more astute
2. A lot more armed police in khaki uniforms, not the blue army fatigues
3. Rumours that high school kids will be starting demos tomorrow
4. Schools around Ambo and Mugher have been closed

The problem is that after June and November 2005 the population has generally become more wary and afraid; they have seen that the repeated killings of innocent demonstrators and by-standers has not moved anyone to concrete actions against this regime.
Ethiopians have come a long way in questioning their rulers and other figures of authority: From the adulation for Haile Selasse over the quiet terror of Mengistu we moved to trying to change things through elections- again thinking within the established framework and system- it didn't work, when we tried a bit of civil disobedience and people-led revolution in reaction to the farce of the elections we get shot like rabid dogs, arrested in the masses, gagged and bound by imaginary laws and state-terror. This time it seems that people want a guarantee that if and when they fight for change, they can do so without having to wipe blood off their children's corpes, without having to sign a statement that the opposition killed their loved ones, without having to face salary cuts or, worse still, revoked trading licences, without having to weather a 150% increase in food prices, without all the repercussions, including being completely ignored and ridiculed (humiliated) by the western regimes that encouraged them to vote and have hope in the first place.
The private media, so instrumental in mobilising the masses is chocked; the only source of info being the state cotrolled media. Isn't that a trusted way of mass brain wash? Spout off the same lies over and over again and people will start to believe you or at least they will become numb in the face of their daily struggles against life.

What is there to be done? People are starting to feel that they are the pawns in some big, corrupt political game for money and power, so why should they comply?

If anyone wants news along the lines of some old-style spy movie try AddisFerengi's weblog...

And....?

Today's supposed to be the first day of a three-day display of civil disobedience according to the "Tegbar Pamphlet". Embassies have issued alerts and yet the city this morning seemed calm despite more unrest and even mass arrests around high schools and the Sidist Kilo Campus. Whatever the next few days bring, I hope it's peaceful and positive- lets hope Meles chokes on a brezel like his partner in idiocy.
Peace

Architecture

It's a shame I cannot post photos from Addis...
There some buildings here in Addis that I absolutely love, maybe because I have grown up seeing them and the fact that they're still around in a city of change seems to be a great comfort.

Here's my top 5:
5. An apartment block by Mesqel Square with vertical metal blinds
4. the old Italian built houses with the wooden latticework all over Arada and near Meshwalekia
3. the old apartments behind Genet Hotel
2. "Temamaw foq" in Popolare
1. The Bedelu Building near Beherawi

There seems to be quite and influence of Frank Lloyd Wright around, the Netherland Embassy has a new building that's very organic, it is brown and flat-roofed, with picture windows that look out on (or rather into) the compound's mature mini-forest- Fantastic!

My alternative career (well, the most feasible one after astrophysics and fighter-jet pilot) would be as an Architect I think.

Feeding the fire with water

There is a trend among HIV+ and AIDS sufferers to try and be “cured” by spending days, months and even years at a church to get treated with holy water; a recent survey showing that 25% of HIV+ Ethiopians said they had been or are using holy water. A lot illnesses can be cured by using water for drinking and bathing, many cultures have been using this means for curative and therapeutic purposes for centuries. However for PLWHA (People Living With HIV/AIDS) this practice poses various dangers: HIV/AIDS is something so insidious and unpredictably malicious in its opportunism to harm and destroy all vital organs ASAP.

What usually happens is that once a person hears their result they might decide to try holy water- drinking up to 10l in one go, on an empty stomach at 3pm if it’s lent; and getting a daily dousing from head to toe with freezing cold water- at dawn. This water, whether holy or not, is not very clean- in some cases the spring has been capped and the water comes from a tap, but in most cases the spring bubbles up happily at a random spot in the church compound where believers congregate en masse- trampling the muddy source and churning up lots more dirt that carries interal and external parasites as sanitation within these compounds is very poor. People openly defecate in and around the compound, most parasites such as amoeba have the capacity to survive outside a host for some time as cysts, waiting for more favourable conditions. In addition these sites are frequented by a lot of people who often suffer from other severe communicable diseases such as Tuberculosis or are carriers of internal parasites such as Guinea worm and VDs such as Herpes. To compound this comes the number of exorcism cases, people who have been brought there to have a “buda” or evil spirit purged from their souls. People like that suffer from hysteria, psychoses etc. causing them to act as whack as they like, sometimes attacking other attendants and thus causing stress and mental anguish.

Most people rent accommodation close to the church at high rates, they cannot afford to have regular and balanced meals for various reasons: They are too poor, they are paying a high rent, they fast, they are cut off from the supportive extended family due to stigma so a lot of them are not cooked for and cared for by relatives. In addition comes the stress of living in such rented accommodation which is shared by other holy water frequenters, with poor sanitation and access to basic services; in extreme cases mentally ill and/ or severely ill people share the same facilities, with feuds over lost, missing or overtly stolen food and utensils.

Do these conditions favour the patient or the illness? Although I only have an ordinary knowledge of medicine, common sense tells me that the latter would be the case; the body already struggling to keep its immune system up, the added stress of bad diet, exposure, psychological stress can cause rapid deterioration. A positive person who is not experiencing any symptoms of AIDS yet, who, apart from being a carrier is still healthy in both body and mind starts exhibiting symptoms of secondary infection.

A typical day during lent was described to me like this:
4:00 am get up and attend prayers, no food or drink
3:00 pm end of mass, drink 5-10l of holy water “fresh” from the source
3:30 pm throw up and go to the toilet for diahorrea and vomiting (this is considered to be the only way the disease will be purged from the system)
4:00 pm eat some qolo and lie down
5:00 pm try force some missir wot or besso down
6:00 pm vomit again and go to the toilet for more diahorrea
7:00 drink more holy water, eat some qolo or besso, then go to sleep

The newspapers and certain magazines published by the orthodox church are full of stories of miraculous recovery so that even Muslims have been going to Entoto Mariyam and the other lesser famed sites. However, there is reason to doubt the legitimacy of such claims as many, especially poorer, people go to "lesser clinics" that charge ETB 5-10 per test. If you ever have been to such a place you know that the low standard of hygiene and inadequate handling of samples can lead to cross-contamination and even complete exchange of samples. A couple of clinics and government hospitals I've been to had labs that are well below par: Sample crucibles (sometimes recycled film cans) and spatulae are strewn all over the working surface, the sterilised ones mingling with the used ones, the lab technicians not wearing gloves and wiping utensils with "soft" from their pockets... When a person goes to be retested after a stint in the church it is possibel that they'll be told they have become negative. When you ask how people know when they have been purged they say that they have been vomiting green stuff and had "worms" in their stool- perhaps it is bile from a wrecked digestive system and tapeworm from the holy water.

I'm not bold enough to suggest that the orthodox church is so cynical in it's fight against "pentes" and Islam that they fabricate results and stories, yet the fervour with which these stories are spread is alarming. A HIV+ result turns sane and rational adults into desperate, angry, confused and simultaneously hopeful people that would do anything to get better- including raping virgins and drinking kerosene or polluted water.

I know a 21 year old mother of 2 from the countryside who caught HIV from her husband about 15 months ago- she is pretty and clever, loves her children and her big family is a fantastic support unit. However her only hope is to try the holy water at our local church as she cannot go back to country life with all the hardship it holds for a widowed mother of 2 whose husband has only left her debts and greedy in-laws. The only hope is that she will be able to access some ARV drugs in the near future, until then she and her family are adamant that holy water is the best option.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=2376267&dopt=Abstract http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gastroenteritis http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pertussis http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yaws http://www.aegis.com/news/irin/2003/IR030510.html http://www.icrw.org/docs/stigmaplha.pdf http://www.wed-ethiopia.org/docs/working-paper2.pdf

New Addis

For those who've been out of the country for 10+ years these pictures might make you feel quite misplaced... (haven't been able to upload pics so watch this space...)

I grew up in the western part of Addis that was considered the "outskirts" back in the 80's and early 90's; we had a barely asphalted road through our pastoral neighbourhood (granted, the road had deep ridges from the military tanks clunking along), a tiny Kiosk was our source for Cokes, soap, Desta ceremella and ampols. The kebele ration shop sold us those long bent spagettis (that turned to Genfo in the pot) in brown paper bags, sugar in paper twists, greasy white soap, dry rice... Clothes and shoe shopping was somewhat bizare as the quality was absolutely crap- thick blue and khaki sleveless jackets anyone?

The view from our balcony was that of the lush mountains in the distance; a meadow with cows and Akirma grass was just 5 minutes away and the air so fresh and clean it hurt your nose, at night we had hyenas come very close to our neighbourhood, their "Awwooo?" booming in our heads in the cold and very dark nights.

Now when we look accross from our balcony we have to crane our heads to look past someone's big watertank, beyond the ring-roads exhaust fumes to the denuded hillsides that first were "yeChereqa Betoch" 10 years ago but now have become fully-fledged homes. The air is still crisp- but with dust and fumes, the Hyenas no longer visit and the street lights go on all night, drowning out the stars. The traffic on the ring road has grown so much that even at 9pm there is a constant hum of cars.

Our little kiosk cannot be reached unless you walk 10 minutes up or down along the ring road to reach the footbridges and besides there are plenty of other shops all over selling all sorts of stuff from all over the world:
My mind still boggles when I go to a "kiosk" now, even the smaller ones in rural towns stock Shampoo from Indonesia, hair pomade from South Africa, Arabian fizzy pop, sugar from Brazil, colourful Chinese candles and bisquits from Argentina alongside the Ambo, flour from 3 different Ethiopian factories, Desta and "Soft"- I wanna buy it all and try it out! I guess I suffered some deep-seated trauma when my Mom had to empty a suitcase in the check-in queue to repackage the heavy goods into our hand luggage- oh the embarassment for a budding 13 year old...carrying a huge backpack full of soap, toothpaste, shampoo etc for relatives whenever we came back from abroad.

Despite all this and the depressing poverty and opression in the streets I wouldn't want to live in any other city. There are still many corners that retain Addis' old charm, women have not had access to "Arkebe kis" shops that line the pavements so that they still squat in front of their wares on the pavement. I've visited quite a few capitals and lived in a couple- most are ok to visit but none of them are good to live in. Perhaps I'd rather suffer a stoopid attack than think that no-one would bat an eye if I got attacked in a train carriage full of commuters.

What’s up for grabs?

“The meek shall inherit the earth”(New Testament). That’s how religion tries to console the downtrodden and disadvantaged; their sacrifices and lack of voice to be rewarded by the bounty of our planet. The meek- those wise and staid people who have foregone worldly attributes in order to be close to God and the spiritual realms. I take things quite literally, and although the words of the bible are full of ambivalence and obscure meaning, I will treat this saying exactly as each one of the words in it convey.

We don’t even need to look too closely, in fact we even try to escape what is sneaking into our consciousness every day through the news, daily human interaction, the air we breathe and the food we eat- we know this earth is fast turning into a hostile and dangerous place to live in.
Those who care about the fate of this planet are fast loosing the battle to fast cars, big business, better technology, more consumerism and fat cats- most of us want to live comfortably, have the glamorous consumer goods and the latest means to make life easier. Although I’m not an avid consumer I am aware that the material world holds more and more temptations for me- a slinky little laptop, an efficient mobile, and I LOVE Ferraris….

Back at school in the 90’s (when it was cool to be eco-savvy) we had lessons in Environmental Awareness- to recycle, not to litter, not to buy too many pre-packaged goods etc. This has stuck by me, but I provoke guffaws and incomprehension when I mention this to most of my peers, especially here in Ethiopia- after all we are the crowns of creation to do as we wish with all of the natural world. Now it’s so uncool to care about that. In the developing world people are so keen on catching up that mountains of rubbish and toxins are accumulating. The rivers and fields around Addis are discoloured and foul-smelling from all the industry on the outskirts; you can see piles of “festal” and plastic bottles by the road-side and on river banks. China, India, Mexico and all the other fast emerging new-industrial nations don’t really care about the Kyoto Protocol or any other agreements; the Scandinavian countries, Australia and New-Zealand have got good policies that are mostly implemented, understood and supported by their citizens. That outlook is rare and threatened by extinction.

In addition comes the social degeneration- everyone to themselves, “ke eras belay nefas”, selfishness and utter disregard for the consequences to others or even themselves in the near and far future. So what if I wash my car in this river and change the oil- the people downstream who depend on the fish and water for their daily income and as a source of drinking water are not my concern, the government should do something…
In 50 years there will be an energy shortage, a lack of fresh, clean water, rogue genetic mutation from GMOs, more people and less money for less people to cope with the fall-out… I can imagine those individuals and nations rich, greedy and ignorant enough will have found means of shutting themselves away from this catastrophe by either protecting themselves or with elaborate treatments, leaving the ravaged and decrepit old earth to the meek.

Bombs in Addis

3 Bombs went off yesterday in AA- one deffinitely in Lalibela Restaurant opposite Stadium (is Reuters really so reliable if their reporters say it was Lalibela Hotel near Bole Airport- obviously the reporter didn't go...), one apparently at Autobus Tera, 3rd one ?. I passed Lalibela Restaurant yesterday, 2 windows on the street side were out, the windows on the northern face of the building were all blown out. What got me was the atmosphere on the street- admittedly it was 7 hours after the blast, but people just got on with life as if it was nothing, only a few looking at the site, no road blocks, no heavy police presence, nothing.
What is all this panic mongering? We all know in whose hands the explsoives in Ethiopia are- EPRDF/TPLF and maybe OLF. After the explosions in Jijiga in July the US soldiers stationed there (Fight vs Terror thing- SURE!) offered co-opertaion in finding out who planted the bombs by carrying out forensic analyses- the Ethiopian/ Somali authorities said no; suspicion is they feared that the evidence will link the explosions to some EPRDF/ TPLF depot.
So a week after announcing that the authorities have uncovered some terror group's plans bombs go off in Addis, however, in their clumsy attempt to instil fear and panic they forgot to explode the bombs before they "uncovered" their imaginary terror group- would have been more creditable. So now we can innocently ask: "Since you foiled this terror group's plans last week, how come bombs exploded yesterday?"

On ETV the event was 4 th on the list of bulletins- WTF?!? The coverage showed some guy in bandages wincing in pain, a woman was interviewed, shaky and inadequate footage of the blast sites was flashed and off we went to ponder the trials of the business community in Ethiopia...

WOMEN FIRST!

Yesterday morning was great! I attended the Women's run- the atmosphere was brilliant, in the run up (excuse the pun) the warm up dance music got us all shaking what we had, the participants were elated, happy, smiling, with boys and men looking like they wished they could attend... :P
During the remarkably easy 5km there was lots of chanting of political, religious, team and other slogans; the Ethiopian "Yaahooo" spirit is so perfect for this kind of thing- women and girls were clapping, beating improvised drums (watering cans), encouraging each other and having a great time. The political slogans were "Yefetu", "Leba", "Veee", with plenty of the two fingers up in the air, right in the face of federal police. Towards the finishing line I saw a police man cautioning a group of very vocal girls to stop their chants and finger waving- which prompted me to wave my two fingers at him- it's a democracy, no? After the run Berhane Adere and Meseret Defar were on stage being interviewed, with Teddy's songs and lots of other good music- the finger wavers didn't stop, despite being surrounded by blue-fatigued feds with big guns- although I heard later that some were pulled out from the crowd by federal police.

There had been the question how political this run would be- the Great Run in November had been a display if civil disobedience and we were wondering whether women would have the same politcal engagement and the will to be so confrontational. I'm glad that the women of Addis stood by their election voice and showed their opinions once more so clearly and openly!

Some might argue that the idea behind this run, the empowerment of women and gender equality, has been hijacked by misplaced politicisation but the fact that women felt confident enough to openly state their resentment and political will at a time when the government is resorting to more and more dangerous and insidious means is enough to argue that it tied in nicely with the whole women's empowerment concept!

Bottom line is that if we want to, we can really stick together, go out en masse in silly lime green shirts and have a great time whilst sticking two fingers up at any adversary.

What would YOU do?- A quick entry

There's so much anger, frustration, dejection and cynisism regarding the situation in Ethiopia, with a lot of aggressive and fatuous opinions on all sides. It has also harnessed the diaspora and even some of the "what's up Addis" crowd into clearly thinking about Ethiopia and what should/ could be done. Weichegud, Ethiopundit, Aqumada are some of the most eloquent, intelliegent and most read blogs out there. Yet the questions raised by so many is "what would you really do?" if you had half a chance to change things. I for my part have said that if all it took was my life to make everything right then I would do it. But what is that in realistic terms?

Some time ago a friend of mine had the extreme pleasure of sitting within 5m of Aba "YeKorojo Leba"Dula Gemeda, he was there sipping happily away at an OJ with his fat discoloured cheeks puffing at the exertions on the straw. My friend got angry, agitated, frustrated and almost hysterical because there was nothing she could do. Stabbing him with her fork seemed so possible and so tempting- but what would the consequences be? He probably has so much body fat that the fork wouldn't do any harm, then there's the fact that she'd get arrested, tortured, deported; her family harassed, arrested, killed, humiliated? To top it all off Tim Clarke entered- even though he didn't go and sit with the Leba it was bad enough, a spineless career diplomat from the ethereal realms of Bole representing a cynical and gutless EU which was getting fat on tax-money. Actions in that case?
A) Go spit in TCs face and call him a spineless careerist?
B) Strike up a conversation and ask him casually about those in Dedessa?
C) Sink deeper into the seat and fume?

My friend did C)- In TC's case actions A) and B) would have just provoced some blase and patronising response (if at all) with the possibility of being barred from that establishment.

The tip of the iceberg was the presence of some Chinese investors who were leering at the women. It was like some bad Bond 007 movie.

My friend has been doing soul-searching ever since. She had a chance to make a change for Ethiopia and 77 mill people- As Teddy Afro sang "aynegam woy?" now it would have finally dawned; she would have been a heroine, March 3rd would be the day of Victory over EPRDF (a double holiday after Adwa day?). Yet when looking at history her actions would have not made a jot of difference, as said above it would have gone horribly wrong, yet another senseless sacrifice for no or, worse still, negative change.

At the core of this came the overwhelming feeling that as individuals we are insignificant in the current Ethiopian condition if the powers that be support and condone the gross human rights violations, cheating, lies and misery in our country turn a blind eye. The paralysing feeling of "Ohnmacht" - lack of might and power, tied hands and a knife at the throat- it felt like the universe was hurtling in its own preset path, disregarding the struggles and tortures of humans as a whole, looking down on my friend like she would on an ant that was trying to carry a dead fly up a hill, only to be crushed underfoot.

She only hopes that perhaps it was a lookalike contest.